UN Secretary General Kofi Annan declared Saturday in a message that his Cyprus plan aimed at reunifying the divided island will not enter into force following the twin referenda held in Cyprus' two communities.

Annan's plan has been rejected by the Greek Cypriots and approved by the Turkish Cypriots.

In the message delivered by his special advisor for Cyprus Alvaro de Soto, the UN chief said he respects the outcome of the two referenda.

But he expressed his regret that the reunification goal has not been achieved and an unique and historic chance to resolve the Cyprus problem has been missed.

The secretary general said he intends to give careful thought to the implications of today's result.

Meanwhile, Cyprus will remain divided and militarized as it accedes to the European Union, and the benefits of a settlement will not be realized.

Annan applauded the Turkish Cypriots, who approved the plan "notwithstanding the significant sacrifices" that it entailed for many of them.

The UN chief also expressed his hope that the Greek Cypriots would arrive at a different view in the fullness of time after a profound and sober assessment of today's decision, for a settlement to the long-standing Cyprus problem would benefit the people of Cyprus as well as the region and the wider international community.

On March 31, Annan handed both communities a revised version of his original proposal for a Cyprus settlement which also drew different reactions from the two sides.

Despite the lack of an agreement on the Annan plan, the UN chief has decided to go ahead with public referenda on April 24 on his blueprint for reunification, which sees two loosely tied ethnically-based zones on the Mediterranean island.

UN peace envoy office in Cyprus to be closed

The United Nations is set to shut its Cyprus peace envoy office after a reunification plan put forward by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is rejected by Greek Cypriots, UN envoy Alvaro de Soto said Saturday.

Speaking at a press conference, at which he delivered Annan's message on the outcome of referenda, de So to said there were no plans to renegotiate the plan as it stood at the moment.

De Soto said he would be paying farewell calls at the beginning of the week on his several interlocutors and then he would return to New York to report to the secretary general.

The UN office set up on the island would be closing down in the coming weeks, he confirmed.

"My team and I have greatly enjoyed working with Cypriots and we are grateful for the support we received from so many of them and their leaders as well," he added.

A total of 623,801 voters -- 480,165 Greek Cypriots and 143,636Turkish Cypriots -- voted on the plan drawn up by Annan to try to end 30 years of division of the island.

The Annan plan is now null and void following the rejection by the Greek Cypriots though it was approved by nearly 65 percent of the voters in northern Cyprus.

Only the Greek Cypriot part of the island will join the European Union on May 1.

Cyprus, an east Mediterranean island, has been divided into the Turkish-Cypriot north and the Greek-Cypriot south since 1974 when Turkish troops entered the north of the island after a failed Greek-Cypriot coup seeking union with Greece.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2004)